Attorney General Pam Bondi said smuggling biological materials ‘under the guise of research threatens America’s national and agricultural security.’
Three additional Chinese researchers at the University of Michigan have been charged as part of an ongoing investigation into the smuggling of biological materials from China to the United States, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Nov. 5.
Bai Xu, 28, Zhang Fengfan, 27, and Zhang Zhiyong, 30, were charged in a criminal complaint filed on Nov. 4 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Bai and Zhang Fengfan were charged with conspiracy to smuggle biological materials into the United States, and Zhang Zhiyong was charged with making false statements to federal agents.
The three defendants were arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on Oct. 16 and taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement before they could board a flight to China.
The Epoch Times was unable to reach the defendants’ attorneys for comment.
The case is connected to Han Chengxuan, a Chinese scholar at China’s Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Han was supposed to start research at the University of Michigan in June under a J-1 visa but was arrested upon her arrival at Detroit Metro Airport that month. She was accused of having shipped, before her arrival in the United States, petri dishes containing nematode worms, known as C. elegans, to the university and falsely declaring them on shipping documents.
Han later pleaded no contest to three smuggling charges and to lying to U.S. customs officials and was sentenced to time served in September. According to the criminal complaint, Han was removed from the United States on Sept. 11.
“Allegedly attempting to smuggle biological materials under the guise of ‘research’ is a serious crime that threatens America’s national and agricultural security,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement on Nov. 5.
“We will remain vigilant to threats like these from foreign nationals who would take advantage of America’s generosity to advance a malicious agenda.”
By Frank Fang
